When did he ever say he wanted to work with Ferguson?
A guy who does endless charity work, showed incredible loyalty that's unheard of in modern football, and gave this club the best memories its had for 15 odd years and him liking Mourinho just about sums him up. Seems a fair opinion that.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Firstly regarding the charity work - Im sure he does lots. So do many other people I dont know him personally. I'm not referring to him as an individual outside of the job he does. The chapter and discussion is specifically about 2008/9 season and his relationship with managers both at Liverpool and other clubs, and how this reflects on him as a player and person in the club. I cant possibly comment on whether hes a nice guy or not any more than you can (unless of course you do know him personally? I am presuming not).
I do think its fair to make an assessment of what drove him as a player and the impact that had on the club and those around him during what was a watershed period for Liverpool. After all isnt that what the books about?
Secondly, accepted he doesnt actually state in print that he would happily work for Ferguson, though he does explicitly state he would have preferred to work for Mourinho instead of Benitez which is arguably worse. When you consider his willingness to paint Ferguson in such a positive light regarding his 'mind games' ('I've got him. i've got him' rubbish) and Benitez apparrent failure despite how actually the season panned out following the 'facts' press conference, I think its fair to conclude that he had a higher opinion of Ferguson than Rafa. As a lifelong supporter and someone who has contributed my hard earned money to his fortune week in week out, I think I am entitled to find this mindset alarming.
Thirdly, its interesting how you refer to it being Gerrard who gave us 'the best memories its had for 15 odd years' as a club, as though noone else was involved both as managers, players or backroom staff. It would be incredible to deny that Gerrards influence as a player and to not admire the moments of individual brilliance but I dont think that was ever up for discussion in this thread. What was being considered was how Gerrard appeared to largely discount the role of others (particularly Benitez) in putting him in a position to display his talents surrounded by world class players. Yet his overriding memory seems to be about a list of negatives (cold personality, players couldnt stand him etc)
What leaves a really sour taste is that I dont think the chapter is an accident - its a clear demolition job on Benitez both in the honest criticisms he makes (fair enough) but also the way he praises Benitez positives almost as though they are faults e.g. the cold personality, the lack of praise etc. Interestingly he accepts that Benitez was a great tactician but then qualifies this by stating he felt Mourinho was better even despite having never played with him and never have been defeated by him whilst playing for Rafa over 2 legs.
Finally, regarding your point on loyalty. This has to be considered in context. Accepted he stayed with Liverpool for this entire career and for that deserves credit. However, he did nearly leave twice for reasons that are still not clear. Equally, there have been clear moments of disloyalty. You would have had to be have been looking the other way to have not seen his clear headshake in full view of the cameras (replayed numerous times by Sky) about Torres subsitution in the Birmingham away game in 2010 (despite Torres later being diagnosed with an injury that kept him sidelined for the remainder of the season). As E2K points out, the resounding silence when support was needed for Benitez whilst trying to push out Hicks and Gillett again spoke volumes for his motives.
If you read the 'Epic Swindle' you will see Gerrards explanation of why he apparently gave up chasing the league after 3 defeats in early 2010- the reason being they had only lost twice the previous season and still fell short so it was of course done and dusted that they had no chance. Really?
How about as recently as a year ago when the new contract failed we heard on FA Cup Match of the Day, a succession of criticisms against the club from his mouthpiece pundits, firstly Lineker, then Shearer then finally Murphy about why they had not given him a new contract. As with the apparent support for Hodgson from Murphy in 2010 again it would be naive to suggest that this was not part of a strategy from Gerrards end. I have no direct proof but the bitterness displayed by Gerrard in the chapter to me confirms my original suspicions (as I think it does many other peoples)
The chapter clearly paints a picture of a man who loved the adoration and success and patently needed someone to keep reminding him of who he was and how great he was. Mourinho (a man of many motives) was keen to praise him from afar for reasons best known to himself. Gerrard comes across as happier to suck this up and discount Benitez for not doing the same, than accept the obvious reality that he career was never the same after Benitez left.